Big Sky Conference

The Big Sky Conference is a NCAA conference that play in the NCAA Division I. The conference is headquartered in Ogden, Utah and features universities and colleges from the Western United States. In football, the league plays in the second-level Division I FCS.

Members

As of the 2017–18 school year, the Big Sky has 12 full members, or schools that play almost all of their sports in the conference. Of these schools, only Idaho does not play football in the conference. Its team in that sport plays in the top-level Division I FBS as a single-sport member of the Sun Belt Conference.

After the full Sun Belt members decided not to renew their football membership contract with Idaho when it expired after the 2017 season, Idaho decided to downgrade its football program to the FCS level and return to Big Sky football in 2018.^[1]

North Dakota left the non-football side of the Big Sky to join the Summit League, home to many of its traditional rivals, in 2018.^[2] The school's football team will join the Missouri Valley Football Conference in 2020. It played the 2018 season as an FCS independent (not in a conference), and will do so again in 2019. However, North Dakota still plays a full Big Sky football schedule, and games against North Dakota count in the Big Sky standings for other conference members.^[3]

School	Location	Founded	Type	Nickname	Joined Big Sky
Eastern Washington University	Cheney, Washington	1882	Public	Eagles	1987
University of Idaho	Moscow, Idaho	1889	Public	Vandals	1963, 2014[a]
Idaho State University	Pocatello, Idaho	1901	Public	Bengals	1963
University of Montana	Missoula, Montana	1893	Public	Grizzlies[b]	1963
Montana State University	Bozeman, Montana	1893	Public	Bobcats	1963
Northern Arizona University	Flagstaff, Arizona	1899	Public	Lumberjacks	1970
University of Northern Colorado	Greeley, Colorado	1889	Public	Bears	2006
Portland State University	Portland, Oregon	1946	Public	Vikings	1996
California State University, Sacramento (Sacramento State)	Sacramento, California	1947	Public	Hornets	1996
Southern Utah University	Cedar City, Utah	1897	Public	Thunderbirds	2012
Weber State University	Ogden, Utah	1889	Public	Wildcats	1963

1. Idaho left the Big Sky in 1996 and came back in 2014 as a non-football member, and rejoined Big Sky football in 2018.
2. The Montana women's basketball team uses "Lady Griz" as its nickname. All other Montana women's teams use "Grizzlies".

Associate members

The Big Sky has four "associate" members that play only one sport in the conference.

School	Location	Founded	Type	Nickname	Joined Big Sky	Main Conference	Big Sky Sport
Binghamton University	Vestal, New York	1946	Public	Bearcats	2014	America East	Men's golf
California Polytechnic State University (Cal Poly)	San Luis Obispo, California	1901	Public	Mustangs	2012	Big West	Football
University of Hartford	West Hartford, Connecticut	1877	Private	Hawks	2014	America East	Men's golf
University of California, Davis (UC Davis)	Davis, California	1905	Public	Aggies	2012	Big West	Football

References

• "Big Sky Conference". bigskyconf.com. Retrieved 2014-06-18.

1. Dodd, Dennis (April 27, 2016). "Idaho will become first team to drop from FBS to FCS in 2018". CBSSports.com. Archived from the original on April 30, 2016. Retrieved April 30, 2016.
2. "The Summit League Adds The University of North Dakota" (Press release). The Summit League. January 26, 2017. Archived from the original on February 2, 2017. Retrieved January 27, 2017.
3. "UND to Join Missouri Valley Football Conference" (Press release). Missouri Valley Football Conference. January 26, 2017. Archived from the original on February 2, 2017. Retrieved January 27, 2017.